News of the Day From Across the Globe

WORLD

Chronicle News Services

Published
4:00 am PST, Sunday, November 6, 2011

1 Gaza blockade: Israel began deportation procedures Saturday for pro-Palestinian activists who tried to breach its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel's navy intercepted two small boats carrying around two dozen activists Friday and towed the vessels to a port north of Gaza. No one was hurt. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said 22 activists are being processed and should be sent home within 72 hours.

2 General fired: The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has fired the No. 2 general in charge of training for making inappropriate public remarks about Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government. Gen. John Allen issued a statement Friday saying that Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller has been relieved of his duties. In a recent interview with the website Politico, Fuller characterized Afghan leaders as erratic, ungrateful and isolated from reality.

3 Flooding: Floodwaters lapped Bangkok's largest outdoor market Saturday as officials warned there were no major barriers between the water and the heart of the Thai capital, less than 6 miles away. The country's worst flooding in half a century has affected more than a third of the country's provinces and killed more than 500 people nationwide. It has been spreading across Bangkok's north and west for more than a week.

4 Ship safe: Philippine officials said Saturday that a cargo ship with 20 crew members did not sink as previously feared. The ship took on water, but its crew managed to pump it out off Ilocos Norte province in the northern Philippines. The vessel was on its way to Subic Bay. Coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente had said earlier that a distress call had come from the ship.

5 Defections: Twenty-one North Koreans, including women and children, were found adrift in a boat off the west coast of South Korea last week and asked for asylum, the South Korean military said Saturday. Yonhap, South Korea's national news agency, said the defectors were part of the same family. More than 20,000 North Koreans have defected to the South since a famine hit their impoverished home country in the mid-1990s. Most travel through the border with China.

6 Deadly crash: A huge crash involving 34 vehicles on the M5 highway near Taunton in southwestern England killed at least seven people and injured 51, British police said Saturday. The crash late Friday involved explosions, and cars and tractor-trailers burning "literally to the ground," said Assistant Chief Constable Anthony Bangham. Police said foggy conditions and wet road surfaces were partly to blame.

7 Earthquake: A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Saturday near the port city of Antofagasta in northern Chile, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. An 8.8-magnitude quake and tsunami in central Chile in February 2010 killed more than 500 people.

8 Opposition rally: Tens of thousands of opposition activists demonstrated in Rome on Saturday for Premier Silvio Berlusconi's ouster. Democratic Party leader Pierluigi Bersani told the crowd that his party was prepared to work with other opposition groups to lead a new government. Berlusconi's grip on power has been weakened by the sovereign debt crisis and infighting in his coalition.